


Love and Change

by Cornerverse



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: F/F, F/M, written before certain plot reveals and is now an AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 13:06:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,958
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11532858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cornerverse/pseuds/Cornerverse
Summary: The Rebellion began out of love, out of wanting to change their world. Though nothing went as planned, they stuck through. Because they loved one another, and as long as they were together, they could do anything.





	Love and Change

**Author's Note:**

> I thought of an idea and decided to run with it. It was a lot of fun and I totally never cried writing this. Probably.  
> -  
> Also, this was originally written/posted in July of 2017, but as of Jungle Moon(Actually, it's February of 2018 while writing this), I've gone back and edited this to reflect Pink Diamond's canon size and appearance(I originally wrote her the same size as Blue and Yellow, but now we know she's around Stevonnie's height).

                She hadn’t known what to expect. Many Gems cared for their Diamond. In fact, all Gems cared for their Diamond. So why was this different? Why were none of the others feeling as she did?  Every time her Diamond talked to her, she felt like she was floating off the ground. Granted, she could float off the ground, but this was different. It made her happy. And no other Rose Quartz seemed to feel the same when Pink Diamond talked to them.

                One day, something had happened. Most Gems were busy, other projects had to be done. Usually Pink Diamond would have her Pearl with her, but there had been an accident. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, just one of the things about this planet. Sometimes, the ground would shake and things would fall. Pink Diamond’s terrakinesis had only done so much to stop it, but rocks had still fallen from the cliff. Her Pearl had pushed a Spinel out of the way of some rocks, taking the blow, but even Rose Quartz’s healing tears couldn’t save her.

                But while they cared for their loss, that wasn’t the thing that had happened, it was just why the two of them were alone.  Just Pink Diamond, and the Rose Quartz protecting her. They had plenty of time to interact, as Pink Diamond tended to speak aloud, and Rose Quartz tended to answer.

                Pink Diamond called her fascinating, interesting. Rose Quartz had smiled at that. Tentatively, she told her Diamond she was fascinated by her as well. Pink Diamond had tilted her head, asking what she meant. Rose Quartz tried to explain what she felt, but she did a pretty poor job of it. Still, Pink Diamond found her all the more fascinating.

                “I think I’d like to have you around more often,” she smiled.

* * *

                As they talked over the next few days, Rose Quartz grew frustrated. Despite their mutual fascination, it wasn’t the same fascination. Pink Diamond was interested in her the same way she was interested in the other Quartzes, or even a Sapphire.

                Why did that feel wrong? After all, she was just a Rose Quartz, and Pink Diamond was, well, a Diamond. Didn’t it make sense for it to be like this? There wasn’t a reason for her to feel like this, was there?

                It came to a head with a gift. Blue Diamond had given Pink Diamond one of her own Topazes. Blue Topazes, unlike their yellow counterparts, were thinner, more elegant. They were dancers and singers, barely above a Pearl, really.

                She let out a small gasp when Pink Diamond complimented the Topaz, commenting on how beautiful she looked against the sanded background. Rose Quartz was sure no one had heard it. Pink Diamond didn’t react, Blue Diamond kept smiling at her, and the Topaz continued to dance for them.

                But once they were alone, Pink Diamond asked her why. She tried to say nothing was wrong, but Pink Diamond persisted. Eventually, her frustration and Pink Diamond’s stubbornness won over Rose Quartz’s need to never question her Diamond.

                Rose Quartz had to ask, was Pink Diamond’s interest in her just like her interest in all of her Gems? Was she only ‘interesting’ because she was a Rose Quartz, and not because she was Rose Quartz an interesting Gem?  Even though they’re not individuals like the Diamonds are, for just a moment, Pink Diamond made her feel like more.

                Rose Quartz absentmindedly wondered what would happen after she told.  Maybe she’d be considered ‘defective’, broken, and she’d have to face that. She didn’t expect Pink Diamond to hold her close and look at her with that soft smile.

                Pink Diamond’s answer was complicated. Yes, she had been interested in Rose Quartz because she was one of her Gems, because she was fancy and strong and Rose Quartzes were different from other Quartzes in so many ways.

                But as they talked more and more, her fascination had changed. She had begun to think of her as not just ‘one of her Rose Quatrzes’, but as ‘Rose’. She had begun to wonder if the other Gems were like her and the other Diamonds. Yes, they were all Diamonds, but she was not Blue Diamond or Yellow Diamond. She was Pink Diamond, and everything that came with that. And Rose was not the same as the other Rose Quartzes she had.

                Pink activated her pyrokinesis, making flames swirl around them, practically painting her emotions in fire. She told her how beautiful she looked in the glow.

                “I love you,” Pink told her.

                Rose knelt down, creating a flower out of the ground, its petals the same color as Pink’s eyes. Plucking it from the earth, she tucked it into Pink's hair.

                “I love you too,” Rose replied.

                If Rose was ‘broken’ for loving Pink, then so was Pink ‘broken’ for loving Rose in return. But, perhaps, they could be broken together.

* * *

                Then again, perhaps they weren’t as broken as they thought.

                They had noticed one another, and now they noticed other Gems. None of them seemed exactly like the other. Rose, having known her fellow Quartzes, saw it first with them. But then it was the Spinels, and the Blue Topaz, and the Sapphires and so on. The longer they talked with them, the easier it was to see. They didn’t need their cut and facet to know which was which, they began to care for them, love them. Though it was a different love than what they felt for one another, it was a love all the same.

                However, it really hit them when Pink Diamond got a new Pearl. The Pearl wasn’t a Pink Pearl like the last one, but to make up for that she had such iridescence. She was colorful, with oranges, blues, and pinks clearly visible instead of the more monochrome pallet of other ones.

                She was so unlike the Pink Pearl from before. It was little things at first. When the Pink Pearl had been given a free moment to do what she liked, she had always been playing with her hair, singing to herself. They had watched as this one absentmindedly picked up a fallen branch and twirled it in her hands, almost using it as an extension of herself as she danced around.

                Rose and Pink might have paid her too much attention. They couldn’t help it. Both were ‘fascinated’ by the Pearl.

                “It’s like when I first noticed you,” Pink commented.

                “Has it grown to more, like it did with us?” Rose asked.

                “Yes,” she answered. “Is that strange?”

                “If you’re strange, then I am too,” she said.

                The three of them were often alone in Pink Diamond’s palanquin. Just a Diamond, her Pearl, and her Quartz Guard.  The Pearl was scared at first. After all, Pink talked to her a bit too casually, Rose talked to her too often in general. They were sure she’d overloaded the poor thing when they told her they loved her, presenting her with a large amount of flowers that Rose had created, surrounded by the glow of Pink’s fire.

                Still, soon enough, Pearl fell in love with them as well.

* * *

                While supervising the Kindergarten’s next batch of Gems, Amethysts this time, some creatures came up to them. They looked sort of like gems, but were clearly some sort of organic lifeform. They called themselves ‘Humans’ and wanted to talk to their leader. Pink Diamond walked out, addressing the Human’s leader. She brought Rose with her, shield at the ready, because the Humans looked angry.

                Still, the anger quickly turned to fear. Both Gems were taller than any Human, and it was easy to see Rose's strength. Still, the duo remained calm and tried to look as non-threatening as possible, for now.

                The Humans asked about the Kindergarten, and why the nearby ground seemed lifeless. Pink was more than happy to explain how it worked. Unfortunately, that wasn’t a good thing to the Humans. They told her that with the life being sucked out of the ground, they couldn’t make food for themselves. It took a moment for either Gem to understand that. After all, Gems did not need ‘food’, eating anything they came across had mostly been done for the taste itself.

                Yet these creatures needed food to live. If they were like the other creatures on this planet, the ones the Humans called ‘Deer’ and ‘Horses’ and the like, they might not have batted an eye. That, and the creatures wouldn’t have come up to them. But these Humans, despite not being anything like Gems physically and honestly having very short lifespans, were like Gems.

                The Humans seemed more understanding, knowing that Kindergartens were how Gems reproduce, but they still worried for their future. Pink Diamond assured them that there was quite a long time before anything drastic happened to the planet, and she’d come up with a solution for them before that day came.

                “What will you do?” Rose asked.

                “I’m not sure,” Pink admitted. “I could try and see if my terrakinesis can do anything, but I don’t think it will, and I can’t stay and use phytokinesis for them all the time. For now, I think I can spare a Rose Quartz, one of the others, to have them help the group with her own phytokinesis. That should last them a while.”

                Pink had a few other ideas for a more permanent solution. Still, she’d have to talk things over with the other Diamonds before doing anything.

* * *

                The Diamond meeting did not go well. Pink had brought up the Humans’ struggle, suggesting that perhaps they could do something to help the planet. She had suggested leaving the planet alone entirely, but the amount of resources on the planet was too much for them to pass up. Then, she suggested using the Kindergartens differently.

                In theory, she had said, they could make Gems without using up the planet’s life. The only problem is that the Gems that come from it would have to ‘grow up’, like the Organics do, and they’d have to be manually trained.  Blue Diamond had been thoughtful, while Yellow Diamond asked why it mattered. White Diamond shot it down, saying it didn’t matter.  

                Closer to the end of the meeting, Pink brought up the other Gems. She asked her fellow Diamonds if their Gems had seemed different, if they were individual sometimes. Once again, Blue Diamond had seemed interested, wondering if Pink’s idea was true. Yellow Diamond was a bit more skeptical, but still sounded like she was open to the idea if there was enough evidence. White Diamond, on the other hand, was angry at the idea. She didn’t explode, like Yellow or Blue Diamond might have. Her rage was cold, silencing Pink almost immediately.

                “They’re not ‘individuals’,” White Diamond stated. “A Quartz is a Quartz, a Zircon is a Zircon. Have you seen the Rubies when they fuse? It’s just a bigger Ruby, no conflicting personalities at all. Any ‘individuality’ is most likely from some sort of defect.”

                Pink had argued it, for a little bit. But she didn’t want to point out what she’d seen. She was scared, really. Because if she told White Diamond that her Gems were different like she’d described, she might do something. White Diamond might take them away, or shatter them. She didn’t want to risk it. Not without either more proof that the Gems were like this, or another Diamond backing her.

* * *

                Pink paced back and forth through the field. Rose and Pearl had long stopped keeping up with her circles, and were sitting together in the plants. She muttered to herself, going over all the problems.

                First should be helping the planet, as that had a time limit. Yet the only idea she had was to go full out and stop using the planet. Fully defying what she was supposed to do. That’s when she realized she could kill two birds with one stone.

                A Rebellion.  A group of Gems that wanted to save the Earth, but were also proving to be their own Gem by rebelling in the first place.

                It was simple, in theory. Rose and Pearl could ‘sabotage’ the plans for Earth, loudly proclaiming how they’re their own Gems, belonging to no one. In time, more Gems would see them and join them.

                “But I can’t lead you,” Pink said. “I want Gems to choose to join us, and if they know a Diamond is involved they’d join because of that. Once we have a fair amount of Gems on our side, I’ll officially join you and tell everyone about it. Besides, the longer I stay uninvolved, the longer I can protect you.”

                “Protect us?” Pearl asked.

                “Yes,” she nodded. “This is dangerous. We’re technically fighting against the rest of our kind, against the other Diamonds. You saw how White reacted. I can tell you what they’re planning, what surprises they might have. And if you do get caught, I can manage to help you escape before a trial. Plus, you can still hide in plain sight by being ‘My Pearl’ and ‘My Quartz Guard’.”

                It might not be the best plan ever, but it was one they were passionate about. For now, they just planned out a few things. Small acts of ‘sabotage’. The Earth was Pink’s Planet, and she was in charge of everything on it. She could make sure any sabotage didn’t hurt anyone, even if the other Diamonds came, they’d have to go through her.

* * *

                The first few rebellions went off without a hitch. They’d gotten attention, and rumors were flying. Gems were interested in the ‘Rebel Leader’ and the ‘Pearl who belongs to no one’.  Some Gems thought to join them, but hadn’t yet left. Others thought they would be taken care of soon enough, that once they were near a real threat they’d be captured.

                So they decided they needed something bigger. Something that would make even the other Diamonds take them seriously. Fortunately, Pink had an idea.

                One night, while Pink and her entourage were traveling to one of the temples along a beach, Rose and Pearl slipped out of the palanquin to begin their show.

                “Stop where you are, Pink Diamond!”

                Pink looked up with a suppressed smile. At the top of the cliff, dramatically silhouetted by the Moon, Rose and Pearl stood and stared down at the entourage.

                “So you are the ‘Rebels’ my Gems have told me about!” Pink answered, stepping out of her palanquin.

                “We are the Crystal Gems!” Pearl said.

                “And you will not be bringing any more harm to this planet!” Rose declared.

                With that, the two of them jumped into the crowd. It took a few moments for the guards to fight back. Rose took a few out with her shield before that. On the other hand, Pearl had yet to get a hang of summoning her own weapon. But when Pink had told the Humans she’d be helping them, they gifted her with a pair of swords. They were nothing like Gem weapons, and probably wouldn’t last too long, but for now Pearl wielded them spectacularly, practically dancing as she whirled through the ranks and dissipated those that should be better fighters.

                Before Pink could decide to ‘try and put a stop to this’, both of them leaped at her. Their combined momentum was enough for her to stumble back and ultimately fall over into the ocean waves.

                Her façade fell once her face was under the water. She let out a laugh, smiling at Rose and Pearl as they slipped away to hide back in the crowd.

                When her head came back up from the water, all of her entourage was surrounding her with worried looks on their faces. Most of them asked some variation of “Are you alright, My Diamond?”

                “I’m fine,” she assured them, standing up. 

                “I’m going to get them for this!” an Amethyst said, wading deeper into the water.

                “No, you’re not,” Pink said, stopping her with a hand on the shoulder.

                “With all due respect, My Diamond, why not?” one of her Agates asked.

                “Firstly, they’re probably long gone,” she said. “Secondly, you're clearly frazzled and some of the group has been dissipated. We should regroup first instead of wasting time and resources looking for them. Thirdly- that!”

                One of the Sapphires had wandered a little too far into the waves, one washing over her and dragging her under. Quickly ducking below, Pink grabbed her arm before the ocean’s pull took her any farther.

                “The waves are a bit more dangerous than you’d think,” she said. “And that doesn’t even include the native fauna!”

                Reluctantly, they agreed. Pink shook her hair in an attempt to dry off, accidentally splashing them with water in the process. Back on the palanquin, Rose and Pearl were already waiting, and the three grinned and laughed at how perfectly they'd pulled it off.

* * *

                They were late. Rose and Pearl were supposed to be back before Blue Diamond had come. Yet she had shown up, told her story, and left for Homeworld, but they still weren’t back at this temple.

                She debated on going off to look for them. It wasn’t easy for Pink to sneak away alone. The Quartz Guards always insisted she have one of them with her. So she stayed, talking solace in the fact that if they had been caught, Blue Diamond would have told her.

                Still, she worried. It would be her fault if they got hurt. Rose and Pearl wouldn’t blame her, they always reminded her that they chose to fight. But Pink still wondered if maybe everything they did was just because she was Pink Diamond. Did they fight for her because she ‘ordered’ them to? Did they love her because she ‘ordered’ them to? She’d asked them, of course, but she wondered if they were lying to please her.  She couldn’t help it, as she knew the power she held even if she didn’t want it anymore.

                After a little longer, she decided to head out herself. Only one Amethyst saw her leave, offering to accompany her.

                “I’m just going for a walk,” she said. “I already sent a Rose Quartz ahead with my Pearl. You know, have to make sure it’s all clear. You and the others are to stay here, okay?”

                Thankfully the Amethyst bought it. She breathed a sigh of relief as she slipped into the cool night air. Then she mentally chastised herself for not being more patient. Rose and Pearl were running up the sand toward her.

                “I’m glad you’re okay!” she said, hugging them both.

                “Sorry!” Rose said. “We were- there was-stars, you probably already heard it from Blue Diamond, right?”

                “Some of it,” she said. “She mentioned a Ruby and a Sapphire, and them somehow fusing. Though I think her perspective is a little different than what happened.”

                “It was amazing!” Pearl exclaimed. “Wait, I can show you!”

                Pearl’s gem began to glow as holograms appeared around her, Pearl taking the place of her past self. A Hologram Ruby lay behind her, while the Hologram Sapphire stood in front of her calmly.

                “Thank you Ruby,” Pearl spoke for the Hologram Sapphire. “You did your best.”

                Pearl lifted her sword to slice the Hologram Sapphire in half, when the Hologram Ruby tackled her. Their forms glowed and melded together, forming a Fusion. With that, the hologram flickered out.

                “You can’t see it in the hologram, but she’s blue and pink,” Rose said.

                “What happened to them?” Pink asked. “I know they got away, Blue Diamond was…. concerned about what she thought happened, but what happened next?”

                “We were still nearby,” Pearl said. “We weren’t sure if we could rescue them without being captured, but they ran off on their own.”

                “We went looking for them,” Rose explained. “And by the time we found them, they’d fused again. On purpose this time. Her name is Garnet.”

                “I didn’t know Gems could fuse with other Gems,” Pink mused. “So, did you two test it out for yourself?”

                “Was that okay?” Pearl asked, shrinking back a little.

                “Of course,” she smiled. “You’re your own Gem. You can do what you want. So, if a Ruby and a Sapphire make a Garnet, what do you two make?”

                “We can show you,” Rose smiled.

                With an encouraging nod from Pink, the two began to dance. They spun together, meeting before turning into a dip. On the way up, their gems began to glow as their forms melded together.

                She was larger than her components, taller than Pink as well. It was strange, seeing a Gem with both Rose and Pearl’s features. Though she was thankful for the eyes. As strange as two sets of eyes were, she could see both of them in there.

                “Hello,” the Fusion smiled at her. “I am Rainbow Quartz.”

                “Hello,” Pink greeted. “So, are you Rose and Pearl, or your own Gem?”

                “Both, I think,” she answered, looking at her hands. “Some things feel more ‘Pearl’ or ‘Rose’, but I’m all of their similarities and differences. It’s hard to describe.”

                “You could always show me,” she said. “Would you care to dance?”

                Dancing with Rainbow Quartz was easier than she expected. At first, Rainbow led the dance. She’d done this before after all. But by the end, Pink had picked her up, lifting her into a spin. Pink felt herself melt away, until she wasn’t exactly herself.

                Zoisite let out a laugh. She looked down, attempting to see what she looked like. Surprisingly, she had an extra set of arms. Feeling her face, she found only two sets of eyes, like Rainbow had had. She had wondered what would happen to Pink and Rose’s gems, as both were in the same place. Pink’s was just above Rose’s on her stomach.

                But what she felt was even more interesting. She wasn’t just ‘Pink, Rose, and Pearl’. She was what they felt to one another. It was warm. It felt like she was still dancing, though all she did was lay down and stare at the stars, goofy smile on her face. She felt Pink’s worries fade, feeling the love Rose and Pearl shared for her.

                Zoisite wanted to stay here forever. Just her and the stars, feeling so warm despite the cold air. Maybe one day they could, once their Rebellion was over.

* * *

                The Rebellion was going strong. More Gems had begun to join, after hearing of the Ruby and Sapphire fusion.

                Pink had only met the ones that were once ‘hers’, like the Spinel and blue Topaz. She had actually caught those two, sneaking off while holding hands and singing to one another. They’d stammered excuses, jumping away as soon as they saw her. Giving an innocent smile, Pink had pretended to believe that they were heading off to have Topaz model for the smaller statues in the temple.

                Some, however, she heard about from Rose and Pearl. The Hematite and Amber were a strange pair. Pink had never even heard of an Amber before they explained. Hematite, one of Blue’s scientists on the planet, was experimenting with different materials to make Gems and had made Amber out of tree sap! Though the ‘downside’ was that she wasn’t fully trained yet, which is why when the Rebels dissipated Hematite, Amber had chased after them instead of waiting for her to reform.

                 Pink hoped she could get to talk to them soon, because she’d love to see the perspective of a Gem that had never been truly trained to think of her as Leader.

                She’d even started a new Kindergarten in another location, one that didn’t have as much Human life. They already couldn’t garden there, so surely the Kindergarten’s drain on the place wouldn’t be a hindrance to the planet in general. It seemed like it was going nicely, though it was still quite experimental. A way to prove that they didn’t need ‘ideal’ conditions to make Gems.

                Still, it was getting more and more dangerous for the Rebellion. While they had a code not to shatter anyone, White Diamond didn’t care as much. If they were captured they’d be given a trial, but she had said it didn’t matter too much if a few Rebels never made it off the battle field. Thankfully, between Rose’s healing tears and the fact that the other soldiers weren’t used to fighting the skill sets of non-warriors, the worst that had happened so far was just minor cracks.

                Even with that, everything was going smoothly, until the day Yellow Diamond came to visit. Thankfully Rose wasn’t there at the time, she was sabotaging another project, but Pearl was still with Pink when Yellow Diamond strode through without warning.  She announced that she had good news and bad news.

                Pink could tell it was something serious, as she had come into Pink's Palanquin for this. Pink, and therefore her Palanquin, being so small, Yellow had to shapeshift smaller to fit inside. Naturally she was still as tall as she could be without hitting her head, but Yellow hated forcing herself into a smaller form. 

                “Well,” Pink mused, looking over the change. “I think I’d rather hear the good news first.”

                “Excellent choice,” Yellow Diamond nodded.

                Yellow Diamond sat herself on the chair, sitting far too comfortably. Her Pearl followed her up, sitting on the arm of the chair.

                “I’ve thought of a solution to your ‘human problem’,” Yellow Diamond said. “A zoo.”

                “A what?” Pink asked, tilting her head almost comically.

                “A zoo,” she repeated. “Just a little place to display them, and other Gems could come see it! Blue’s scientists created these little Gems, Lapis Lazulis I think they were called. Anyway, they can terraform the inside of a ship and make it livable for these ‘Humans’. You know, air, water, food, that sort of thing. Plus they’d be completely safe from the hostile fauna here.”

                “Really?” she wondered. “So, couldn’t these ‘Lapis Lazulis’ fix the Earth? Leave it more hospitable after we’re done? For that matter, if they can put life back in the planet, couldn’t they make dead planets have resources?”

                “That was the intention,” she shrugged. “It’s what Blue’s scientists were attempting to do, create a Gem that could breathe life into a planet so that we don’t have to use more planets than we already have. This batch can do a fair bit, their terraforming can do a lot in small areas, and they’re quite proficient in hydrokinesis and image projection, but they’re not powerful enough. They can’t keep up with the resources we use. If we had more of them it wouldn’t be a problem, but they’re difficult to make.

                “Well,” she said. “Until you get the Lapis Lazulis ready to fix a planet, I think the zoo is a great idea.”

                Really, it wasn’t the best idea, but would it be suspicious if she refused the offer. More importantly, it was a start. Even if she couldn’t save the planet in time, then maybe she could save enough of the Humans to repopulate the planet once they had enough Lapis Lazulis to fix it.

                That, and the fact that Yellow came up with the idea and Blue approved enough to offer her own Gems meant that they might be seeing it Pink’s way. There was still a chance to convince them, and maybe a chance to convince them about Gems’s individuality as well.

                “Now, for the bad news,” Yellow Diamond sighed. “I know you’re…. very attached to the Rose Quartzes here. But they’re dangerous.”

                “Come on, none of them would hurt me,” Pink smiled, trying not to think of one specific Rose Quartz.

                “You don’t know that,” she insisted. “This Rebel Leader is a wild card. Something’s wrong with her, and honestly, it’d be safer without them.”

                “You don’t mean-“ she began.

                “No, we won’t shatter them,” she waved her had dismissively. “White Diamond suggested we should dissipate their forms and put them in bubbles. I know you don’t want to, but what if the Rebel Leader masquerades as one of the Rose Quartz soldiers still guarding you?”

                “Are you going to dissipate all the others that have joined the Rebellion as well?” she asked. “The Spinels, the Topazes, the Hematites, the…. The Pearls?”

                “No,” she said. “If we did that, we’d have far too few Gems left to fight.”

                “Then why the Rose Quartzes?” she asked.

                “Because she’s the start of all this,” she answered. “She had to have done something to the others, some sort of power we don’t know about. Once we capture her, once we give her a trial, we can have the Hematites study what went wrong. It might be something wrong with the whole batch, and we don’t want to risk it. If they’re fine we’ll return them. Safe and sound.”

                “But what if you’re wrong?” she shook her head. “What if, what if it’s not something ‘wrong’ with them, with any Gem?”

                Yellow stood up, moving closer. She cupped Pink’s face in her hands, bringing her closer. For just a moment, she looked vulnerable, worried. And that scared her more than she thought it could.

                “We don’t want anything to happen to you,” Yellow said far too softly. “I’ll do anything to keep you safe. Blue would too. I promise, I’ll fight whatever dangers come for you.”

                Pink hesitated for a moment, trying not to glance to Pearl. She wondered, perhaps, if she should tell Yellow about her role in the Rebellion. About what was really happening. But not yet. Maybe that was a good idea, maybe she was just scared to ruin everything before it started. Because if Yellow Diamond wasn’t on board, then she’d report to Blue Diamond and White Diamond, and who knows what would happen after that.

                “I-I’ll take care of them,” Pink relented. “By tomorrow, you’ll have all the Rose Quartzes bubbled and ready to be stored.”

                “Thank you,” Yellow Diamond said, returning to her usual stiffness.

                They talked for a while longer, but Yellow Diamond had to head out eventually. As soon as they were out of sight, Pink dropped to the floor, leaning against her chair instead of sitting in it.

                “Pearl, please find Rose,” Pink asked. “Tell her what’s happening. I-I’ll get the other Rose Quartzes while you’re gone.”

                “They’ll be okay, right?” Pearl asked.

                “Of course they will,” she smiled. “Rose will be too. Just, if she shows up here it’ll be suspicious. They’ll know she’s the Rebel Rose Quartz. They’ll capture her. But I have to see her again.”

                “A-alright,” Pearl agreed. “I’ll be back tonight.”

                While Pearl sneaked off to find Rose, Pink gathered up the other Rose Quartzes. She told them what Yellow Diamond had said. They argued, of course. They would never hurt her. She was their Diamond, after all. Still, Pink had to do what she had to do. She told them they had until tomorrow night. What she didn’t say is that she was hoping it would give them time to escape and join the rebellion.

                Leaving them, she silently slipped away toward the forest. She wasn’t sure how long she waited, but by the time Rose and Pearl came back, it was nearly dawn. As soon as she was in arm’s length, Pink picked Rose up and brought her to her face.

                “I’m sorry,” Pink cried. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think they’d want to get rid of the Rose Quartzes.”

                “It’s not your fault,” Rose shook her head. “I signed up for this. You want me to do what I want as my own Gem, and that’s what I’m doing. I believe in this.”

                “I’ll still visit you,” she said. “I’ll find some way to sneak off and see you.”

                “I can still run messages,” Pearl offered. “Whenever you want to see one another.”

                It wasn’t long before Pink asked to fuse again. Zoisite could feel everything. Fear and love. Determination. Hope. Looking at the stars, she remembered something. It was one of Pink’s memories, from when she had caught Topaz and Spinel leaving. They had been singing, so Zoisite sang as well

_“As I sing_

_This melody,_

_I remember our_

_Precious memories._

_I will change your despair to a smile_

_As long as I can be with you and sing_

_As long as I can be with you and sing_

_As long as I can be with you…_ ”

* * *

               By the next day, Pink had bubbled all the Rose Quartzes left. A few had decided to run, to join the Rebellion. That was good. Hopefully they wouldn’t realize she’d wanted that. Then again, they apparently didn’t seem to trust her to send them herself.

                Instead, Blue Diamond had come to transport the bubbled gems. Her Moonstones carefully loaded them into the ship. The two Diamonds stood off to the side, just out of earshot. While Blue Diamond stood, Pink had climbed atop her Palanquin to be closer to her eye level. 

                “How is the search for the Rebels going?” Blue Diamond asked.

                “We haven’t found anything yet,” Pink said. “This planet is quite large, and they could easily be moving from place to place.”

                “Have you heard any news of my Sapphire?” she asked.

                “Only from reports of their battles,” she answered, tugging her hair a bit. “She and the Ruby you mentioned seemed to still be fused.”

                “It’s my fault,” she said. “I should have made it clear to her that she would be okay.”

                “Maybe this is what they want?” Pink suggested.

                That was the wrong thing to say. Blue’s pathokinesis went off, the Gems in its radius feeling hot, angry, tears well up.  Thankfully, none of them questioned it.

                “Pink, you weren’t there!” Blue insisted. “That-that Ruby forced her to fuse with her!”

                “But didn’t she technically save her from Pe-the Rebel Pearl?” Pink asked, wiping Blue’s tears out of her eyes.

                “From being dissipated!” she said. “The Sapphire had already predicted that she would be fine, but she was forced to fuse against her will anyway. Sapphires, they don’t know how to fuse. She wasn’t made for that, but the Ruby tried anyway. Who knows what that could’ve done to her! Who knows what it did manage to do to her?”

                “Do you think it could have been different to them?” she wondered. “Couldn’t they have fused on accident?”

                “No, absolutely not,” she shook her head. “You can’t just fuse by tackling someone or spinning them! You’ve seen other Gems fuse. They decide to do it, chose to do it.”

                “Maybe they can,” she said. “Has anyone ever tried it before? We didn’t even know Gems of different type could fuse. Isn’t it possible that there are different ways to do so?”

                “I don’t disagree about the possibility of them fusing in a different way,” she said. “Stars, I don’t even disagree that it could have its uses. But I don’t think it’d be possible to do it ‘on accident’. I already said, you have to choose to fuse, and the Sapphire still didn’t want to do it at all.”

                “You seem oddly concerned with this,” she pointed out. “Concerned about your Sapphire, I mean. After all, as long as your Sapphire is safe the Ruby did her job. And if something did happen to her, surely you could either fix her or replace her.”

                Blue was quiet for a moment. Thankfully, her pathokinesis calmed itself, though it was a bit more difficult to see what she was feeling. Pink hadn’t wanted to suggest that this wasn’t important, that Ruby and Sapphire could be replaced so easily. But she was curious as to what was going through Blue’s mind.

                “I-I don’t know,” Blue admitted. “I’m not sure why it means so much.”

                “Hey, don’t get upset,” Pink said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Well, a bit late for that. But you’ll figure it out.”

                “I remember what you said, you know,” she muttered. “About Gems possibly being individuals.”

                “And?” she prompted her to continue.

                “A part of me hopes it’s not true,” she said. “I hope that there’s just something wrong with them. Because something like-if a fully functioning Gem like that could exist. A Gem that would force another into that, without knowing what could happen. Stars, if they’d been a Hematite running tests I’d understand, but that wasn’t-Why do I care about this?”

                “Because you’re you, Blue,” she smiled, despite the pathokinesis activating again. “You might be more emotional than Yellow, but you’re just as stubborn.”

                She debated telling Blue about the Rebellion. It would be so easy. But she didn’t. Sure, Blue was more likely to understand, to join her. But even if the possibility of screwing up the rebellion wasn’t there, now wasn’t the time to tell her. For whatever reason, this shook her. And Pink wasn’t about to force her to confront something in this state.

                After Blue left, she had Pearl and Rose talk to Garnet again, about Sapphire’s history with Blue. There hadn’t been much out of the ordinary, at least from Sapphire’s point of view. Still, Pink had to wonder.

* * *

                The second Kindergarten had been fairly successful. Some of the Gems came out a little off. One of the Jaspers was far too skinny, and a Carnelian was quite short. Pink was sure it had been because the Gems handling it had rushed their work. After all, ‘we need more soldiers to fight the rebellion, especially now that we can’t use the Rose Quartzes!’. She should have been more hands-on, making sure that the differences were minimized. Even though most of the Gems weren’t completely ‘up to standard’, even White Diamond couldn’t deny their usefulness.

                However, there was one Jasper from that Kindergarten who surpassed Homeworld’s standards! She was taller and stronger than the others. Even the hole she came out of had frictional rock melt all the way back. Pink hadn’t even expected that from the ‘better’ Kindergarten. Well, she had thought one Amethyst from that Kindergarten had the potential, but she hadn’t come out. Things could still go wrong with ‘better’ Kindergartens, she guessed.

                But it did help prove Pink’s point. This ‘lesser’ Kindergarten could make a Quartz so perfect. Truly, it didn’t matter to her. They could have all come out like the Carnelian, and she would have let them be. But her fellow Diamonds had their own standards.

                In the mean time, she’d begun working on the ‘zoo’. She didn’t want the Humans to be ‘trophies’ of a sort, but it was better than living on a dying planet. She went to the settlements near the first Kindergarten first and explained to them what the option was. Some agreed that it was the best option to give both groups what they wanted, but others thought she should be doing more to save them. Honestly, she didn’t disagree with them. But it was difficult to do while pleasing everyone.

                It was getting harder to see Rose and Pearl nowadays. As the Rebellion grew larger and more Gems would notice Rose sneaking off on ‘solo missions’, and the security around Pink got even tighter. Pearl helped as much as she could, but she could really only distract one Gem at once. Still, the time they spent together, and the time spent as Zoisite, was worth it.

                As Pink walked back to her palanquin, she debated over telling the other Diamonds. She wondered if she should have said something before. A part of her thought she made the right choice, not telling them. She’d definitely thought so at the time, and the idea of what could go wrong kept her from doing so now. Yet another part of her wondered if she should have.

                She pulled the curtain back and stepped inside, planning to just go to her chair. However, she hadn’t expected someone to already be there.

                “Rose! You can’t-!” Pink began.

                “I’m sorry,” Rose cut her off. “I-I had to see you. It couldn’t wait for-I couldn’t tell Pearl about-oh stars.”

                She only now realized that Rose had been crying. Leading her to sit down, Pink sat on the arm of the chair and tried to bring comfort. As Rose tried to find her words, she ran her fingers through her hair. Still, she double checked that the rest of the Gems couldn’t see them.

                “Do-do you remember us talking about Bismuth?” Rose asked.

                “The one who made weapons for those who couldn’t summon them, right?” Pink recalled. “She made a sword for you as well, did she not?”

                “Yes,” she nodded. “We…. After our last battle at the Ziggurat, Bismuth took me to her forge. She wanted to show me a new weapon. I thought it would’ve been just a new sword or another canon but….”

                She stopped and shuddered for a moment. Pink began to say that she could stop for now, but she was cut off.

                “She called it the ‘Breaking Point’,” Rose said. “She designed it to be able to shatter any Gem.”

                “To shatter…” she repeated. “Does it work?”

                “I don’t know, I didn’t see it in action,” she shook her head. “But Bismuth was confident that it did. I don’t know if she just knew her craftsmanship, or if she’d tested it herself. But she offered the Breaking Point to me. She wanted  to-to shatter the Homeworld Gems. To shatter the Diamonds, and any Gems that followed them. She thought we should make a statement, to go big for the first display of the weapon. She-she suggested we start by shattering you, since you were My Diamond.”

                “What did you do?” she said, shuddering from the idea.

                “I’m sorry,” she said. “I tried to tell her that shattering Gems was the opposite of our goal, because we wanted all Gems to have the chance to be their own Gem. We can’t give them a chance to rebel if they’re shattered.  I-I even tried to tell her about you, about us, when that didn’t work. But she stopped listening. We ended up fighting, she tried to use the Breaking Point on me, but I managed to dissipate her form and put her in a bubble.”

                “Are you okay?” she asked, hugging her tighter.

                “I will be,” she said. “It was the best option, right? I couldn’t let her shatter anyone, shatter you, but I couldn’t get her to listen.”

                “I don’t know,” she admitted. “Sometimes the best option isn’t what you want, but the only thing you can do. Sometimes you question it later, despite how sure of it you were at the time.”

                “I just don’t know what to tell everyone,” she sighed. “Bismuth had good intentions, she wanted to help even if it wasn’t right, but some of the Rebellion might not see it like that. I don’t want them to think of her like that. Especially Pearl. She’d know exactly why. Stars, even if I could tell them without that, telling them why I decided against her plan would involve telling them about you. How can I tell them at all?”

                “It would be nice if everything were simple, wouldn’t it?” she laughed sadly.

                “Yes, it would,” she agreed.

                Pink turned Rose’s face up to her, keeping her gaze. She gave as reassuring a smile as she could, despite the doubt within her.

                “How about this,” Pink began. “You don’t want to tell them because of me. But eventually, my part in the Rebellion will be shown to everyone, even the other Diamonds. Then you can decide, alright? It gives you more time to think it over.”

                “How much time?” Rose asked.

                “Hopefully not too long,” she said. “Because I missed this, missed us being around one another. A part of me wants to announce it now, just to see you again, but I know it’d be bad if we did anything too soon.”

                “I’m sorry for coming without warning,” she said. “After what happened, I needed to see you.”

                “I know,” she smiled. “I would have too. Just be careful, okay?”

               

* * *

               Pink had decided to be extra careful when it came to Pearl. She didn’t want them to recognize her as the ‘renegade Pearl’. It was easy to fool most Gems, but there were a few she was a little more careful of. Some of the newer Gems hadn’t met her.

                Though she did debate with herself a little on this. After all, she had begun to fall for another one of the Gems. It had started similar to Rose, really. She had seen interesting Quartz Gem, and slowly her feelings grew. The ‘perfect’ Jasper from the Beta Kindergarten was a lot like Rose in many ways. They both had such passion and determination, though their goals were different. Pearl could get just as determined sometimes.  She wondered if she had a type.

                Pink had thought to introduce them, to let Jasper in on her role in the rebellion before she fully declared her place. The three of them would get along well, once they were on the same side. It wouldn’t happen today though, as Jasper was fighting to defend her today instead of Guarding her.

                Before she had left, Pink shared her fire with her, telling her how beautiful her eyes were in the orange glow. Despite flowers being Rose’s thing, she had picked one from the nearby field to give her as well. Hopefully, one day, Rose would do the same.  

                The next morning, Pink and Pearl had been heading to another temple. It was a midway point between the current battlefield and where the rebellion was hiding for now. However, their entourage, and the palanquin, stopped long before reaching it.

                Pink pulled back the curtains, beginning to ask what had happened, but her Gems had already headed across the field. Though she hadn’t heard the order, she could guess why. In front of her was White Diamond, looking as intimidating as ever.

                “Hello, White Diamond,” Pink greeted, stepping out into the grass. “I didn’t expect you to be here today.”

                “I had something to talk about, and I didn’t want interruptions,” White Diamond answered with a quick glare at Pearl. “This is a private conversation. She should go with the others.”

                “It’s fine,” she said, waving it off. “If I can hear it, so can she.”

                White Diamond glared at Pearl for a moment. Shrinking back from her Gaze, Pearl looked up to Pink, who gave a reassuring smile in return.

                “Fine,” White Diamond agreed. “I wanted to ask you about this ‘rebellion’. What are your thoughts toward it?”

                “It’s… interesting,” Pink answered carefully. “Several Gems have defied the Diamond Authority, enough that they’re an actual threat. You have to admit, it raises some questions.”

                “Yes, it has,” she frowned. “Perhaps I was not clear. I want to know what part you play here. What is your role in this rebellion?”

                Pink froze. She could feel Pearl stiffen with fear next to her. Despite trying to keep it together, White Diamond’s cold stare bore into her. All sorts of responses were running through her mind, though none of them managed to make it to her voice.

                “Do you think I’m an idiot?” White diamond asked when she didn’t respond. “You asked about Gems and their ‘individuality’, and about saving this planet, then a few years later a few Gems begin this ‘rebellion’ with those goals? Besides, some things were quite obvious.”

                White Diamond’s gem began to glow, and she shifted forms. Where White Diamond had been, there was a mimicry of Rose. She was an almost perfect likeness, other than the paler color scheme. White’s actual Gem couldn’t be seen behind ‘Rose’s’ hair.

                “One of your own Rose Quartzes,” White Diamond said, examining her own hand in a bored manner. “Now, I can hardly expect anyone to keep track of all of them, however, very few have a Gem in the same place as your own. One has much darker colors, another has white hair and a pink outfit, so on and so forth. But of the two matching her Gem Placement and color pallet, only one has a shield for a weapon. A very distinct shield, I might add.

                “I really should have put a stop to this sooner,” she sighed. “But I underestimated them. I didn’t expect them to get this far. Oh well. We all make mistakes, isn’t that right, Pink?”

                “What?” Pink breathed out.

                “It’s a simple question,” she shrugged. “How deep into this are you? Did you just happen to notice it and not put a stop to it, or are you a part of this?”

                There wasn’t a way out. White Diamond already knew she was involved. But surely she could see her points, right? Surely she’d see that these Gems are more than tools, that this planet is worth more than just ‘resources’.

                No, this was a bad decision. She could tell it was. Blue or Yellow would’ve been a better choice, but White? She hadn’t been receptive before. But what other choice was there? She couldn’t see any way out of this. It’s not like White Diamond would believe her if she lied. She had to take a chance that she’d understand.

                “Fine,” Pink said, crossing her arms and looking away. “It was my idea. But the points still stand.”

                “Do they now?” White Diamond smirked. “After all, they’re only following the orders of a Diamond.”

                “No,” she stated. “They don’t know I’m part of this. That’s the point. Only the first two know, and not that you’ll believe it, but made the choice to join my plan. Everyone else joined without knowing, because they wanted to join. Because they’re their own Gems, not our toys or tools! And as for the Earth, you’ve seen how the Beta Kindergarten worked. The Gems came out fine, and would’ve been better if they hadn’t been rushed.”

                “That’s not the point,” she frowned, the expression looking strange with Rose’s face. “Every Gem has a role. Quartzes are warriors and guards, Peals are servants, Spinels are architects, and so on. You know this.”

                “But what if they don’t want that?” she snapped. “What if they want to be themselves? What if they want to care about one another and this planet? Because they do! They care about this place and one another!”

                “It shouldn’t matter to you,” she stated. “You are a Diamond. You are supposed to lead. Just because you’re above them doesn’t mean you can just do what you want!”

                “Too bad!” she shouted. “I want things! I care about things! I’m just like them, because they’re just like me! And I won’t let you just shove that off because of what you think I should be!”

                “Pity,” she mused.

                In a flash, her sword appeared in her hand. It looked so big compared to her, as she was still transformed into Rose’s likeness. Yet she still wielded it as easily as if she were her normal size, slicing through the air.

                Pink moved in front of Pearl, blocking her from harm, and summoned her own weapon. A pair of chakrams appeared in her hands, catching White Diamond’s sword. Her anger from before had built, engulfing her hands and chakrams in fire. She let out a shout and thrust her weapon forward.

                Despite looking smaller, White Diamond still had her strength and powers. Deflecting the blow, she pushed Pink back. A burst of energy shot from her hand, pushing Pink back into the palanquin. She stumbled, landing with her back against the chair.

                She was only dazed for a moment when she heard shouting. Was it Pearl? Or was it the rest of their Gems, having noticed a fight? She didn’t know. Pulling herself up, she walked out to defend her Gems.

                White Diamond still stood, though Pearl had been knocked down. She looked ready to summon her own weapons, but hesitated for the fact that it would endanger her as well. Pink leapt at White Diamond, preparing to strike again.

                White Diamond was still wearing Rose’s face. And though Pink knew better, White Diamond stopped and smiled, mimicking the real Rose too much. For just a second, Pink hesitated. It was only half a second, but it was enough.

                Pink would have described it like a hologram glitching, but with pain. Parts of her disappeared. She couldn’t feel her side, and the lack of feeling crawled up her torso and arm. She tried to say something, to tell Pearl to run, to tell the other Gems to run, to warn them of White Diamond, but she couldn’t bring herself to.

                Tears dripped down her cheeks as the numbness made its way to her face and down her legs. Pearl was crying too. She could see that. She was glad she could see that, and not White Diamond’s grin on Rose’s face. Stars, she wished Rose were here, that she hadn’t sent Jasper away, that she had told Blue or Yellow about everything.

“We all make mistakes, isn’t that right, Pink?”

                “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry! I couldn’t-“

* * *

                Rose had been celebrating another victory when Pearl returned. It took her a moment to see the tears, and another to know they were bad. As soon as Pearl mentioned Pink, Rose had cut her off, taken her somewhere alone. Back to the field of ‘strawberries’ where the rebellion had first started.

                How she wished to be anywhere else.

                Pink was dead. Shattered by White Diamond, who had used Rose’s from to frame her. She begged Pearl to replay the scene with the holograms. She watched as the Hologram Pink’s body fractured, disappearing into nothingness.

                She watched as White Diamond, using her form, had walked up to Pearl and taken her face in her hand.

                “Go ahead,” White Diamond said, grin dripping with sadism. “Tell them who I am. They’ll never believe a Pearl.”

                The both broke down crying again. Pearl had managed to take the shards of Pink’s Gem with her when she ran, but try as she might, she was too broken for Rose to fix. If only crying harder would help, because it was all she could manage to do.

                After who knows how long, they ran out of tears. Rose began to think. How would she face their friends? How would the rebellion go without Pink. They couldn’t do what she had wanted. White Diamond wasn’t going to listen, obviously, and they couldn’t convince Blue or Yellow without some sort of proof. That is, if Rose wasn’t shattered on sight for her supposed crime.

                That’s the problem, isn’t it? All of the other Gems had a chance. If the rebellion disbanded, they could sneak their way back into Homeworld’s ranks, as if nothing happened. But Rose couldn’t. Then again, most of the rebellion wouldn’t want to go back to Homeworld.

                Rose sighed and stood, looking into the stars. She choked back another sob, remembering that they could never form Zoisite again. Keeping it together just a little longer, she turned.

                “Pearl,” Rose began.

                “Yes?” Pearl responded.

                “I’m going to stay and fight for this planet,” she said. “You don’t have to do this with me.”

                “But I want to!” she insisted.

                “I know you do,” she gave a sad smile. “Please, please understand. If we lose, we’ll be killed, and if we win, we can never go home.”

                “But why would I ever want to go home, if you’re here?” she asked.

                Rose had to laugh. Not because it was funny, but because it was better than crying. Because she loved her still, and everything hurt. She offered Pearl her hand, and Pearl took it in her own.

                “My Pearl,” Rose sighed.

                “You’re wonderful,” Pearl said.

* * *

                Rose watched in silence as Pearl reformed. Thankfully, she didn’t take too long or change to much this time. Still, it was too long for Rose to wait.

                “Pearl, you can’t keep doing this,” Rose said.

                “But I’m fine,” Pearl insisted. “We’re both fine!”

                “What happens when we’re not?” she demanded. “I can’t keep saving you! One of these days a Gem is going to get a lucky blow and you’ll be shattered! I can take care of myself!”

                “Then keep yourself safe!” she said. “You’re too important here!”

                “You’re important too!” she shouted. “That’s the whole point of all this! We’re both important! And the rebellion could make it without me if it had to! You can’t keep jumping in the way of things for me!”

                “Yes I can!” she retorted.

                “No!” she said.

                “Why won’t you just let me do this for you, Rose?!” she cried.

                She was crying. Rose took a moment, tried to calm herself. Pulling Pearl close, she tried to calm her as well. Instead, she broke down into sobs.

                “What’s really going on?” Rose asked.

                “I-I could’ve saved her,” Pearl whispered. “I was there, Rose. I could’ve done something! I could’ve jumped between them. It’s my fault. I just… I want to keep you safe. Because I can.”

                “No,” she shook her head. “No Pearl, it’s not your fault. We all could have done more. We all have regrets. I’m sure…. I’m sure Pink had them too. But please, don’t hurt yourself to save me. I want us to make it out of this, but it’s dangerous already. Don’t put yourself in any more danger.”

                “I-I’ll try,” she agreed. “But I still want to protect you.”

                “I know,” she smiled. “And I’ll protect you as much as I can.”

* * *

                It wasn’t supposed to be like this. They had been winning. They had an army that could rival Homeworld’s, no rules other than ‘don’t shatter them’. Homeworld’s army had been retreating, hopefully for good, but it wasn’t right.

                There had been lights in the sky, and a song. Rose only managed to shield herself, Pearl, and Garnet before it reached them. There hadn’t been enough time.

                She watched in terror as the Gems around them reacted. They screamed in pain, some dropping immediately, and their forms began to change. It was like they were being stretched and pulled further than possible. Surely they would dissipate soon?

                They didn’t. There were creatures where they stood. Creatures out of their mind, attacking everything in a panic. The shield kept her, Pearl and Garnet safe, but they could only watch from behind a wall of pink.

                Rose grabbed one of the smaller Gems, she thought it might have been Amber. The Gem wouldn’t stay still, it tried to scramble away, clawing at her arms. Carefully keeping it away from her Gem, Rose motioned for Pearl to dissipate her.

                The Gem itself didn’t look harmed. It wasn’t cracked in any way, not even a facture. Still, Rose let her tears fall on it anyway. Nothing changed. When she reformed, almost immediately really, she was still a creature, struggling to get away.

                Rose dropped her, then dropped herself to the ground. Everything was wrong. They couldn’t have just let them be free, could they? No, if they had ‘freedom’, it had to be like this. She couldn’t fix them, she couldn’t fix anything.

                Her tears doubled, and she let out a scream. It hurt. Stars did it hurt. Emotions so strong it tore through her. The sound was unearthly, almost as if it hadn’t come from her.

                Vaguely aware of her surroundings, Rose could feel her scream reverberate off her shield. A new power of sorts, one that seemed to disrupt the creatures, not that it mattered. Maybe if she had known before, she could’ve stopped it. Stopped this… corruption.

                She wasn’t sure how long it lasted before she could think properly again, before she could at least move. Garnet and Pearl nearly dragged her away, warping anywhere else on the planet.

* * *

                “Hey!” Pearl called. “I found something!”

                Rose walked up to the Galaxy warp, fear building. They had come to destroy this place, so that Homeworld couldn’t use it to send more Gems. But what if some had already come through?

                Her posture relaxed when she saw what Pearl was holding in her hands. It was a small mirror, its design simple but elegant. The mirror itself looked fine, but when Pearl flipped it over, there was a blue, teardrop shaped gem embedded in the back.

                Unfortunately, the Gem was deeply cracked. She could see the mirror’s back underneath in the weaker parts.

                “Poor thing,” Rose murmured.

                “I don’t recognize this Gem,” Garnet said, looking closer.

                “I do,” Pearl said. “Lapis Lazuli, created by Blue Diamond in the hopes that they could terraform planets we use up to be replaced, but not quite perfected. They also have hydrokinesis and the ability to project images in mirrored surfaces. Usually they’d make a mirror out of water, but I assume if you used one as a power source you could bypass that and use the power directly.”

                “Does it still work, cracked like that?” Rose asked.

                “Let’s try,” Pearl said. She flipped the mirror back around. “Can you show us something?”

                The mirror’s surface rippled, showing an aerial view of the Galaxy Warp. They could see themselves standing there, looking into the mirror.

                “Is there anything else?” Pearl asked.

                The projection changed, showing a forest somewhere on Earth. They could see themselves there as well, though it had been years ago as there was still a battle raging.

                “Interesting,” Pearl mused. “She can show us things, but she doesn’t seem to be talking much. I think she’s too far gone.”

                “I didn’t think it’d work,” Rose said. “She was probably too damaged to heal, and they put her in there. Something that could potentially terraform a planet would have been too important to just leave damaged. One of them would have temporarily freed another Rose Quartz to heal her. I don’t think I can do anything for her.”

                “Maybe it’s for the best,” Garnet said. “She would have either been stuck on Homeworld, or turned into one of those things. Though, who is to say the mirror protected her from corruption?”

                “I don’t know,” she said, taking the mirror from Pearl and gently rubbing her hand over the Gem. “It’s a bit ironic, in a way. Homeworld thought we were just tools, and we fought for that. Now she’s just a tool because of this.”

                Rose looked in the mirror once more before handing it back to Pearl.

* * *

                Rose had debated forever about what to do with… what to do with Pink’s shards. They could, in theory, just carry her around with them. But what was the point? She couldn’t fix her, she couldn’t fix anyone.

                They hadn’t told Garnet about Pink, about the truth. They didn’t want to. Every time they tried, they couldn’t manage to do it. One of them broke. Garnet understood, in a way. She understood that it made them upset, and so she let them keep their secret.

But after keeping it secret for so long, the lie had become the truth. Sometimes, Rose wondered if any of it were real. Maybe she had imagined Pink’s love, her warm smile. Maybe she had actually done something terrible, but she convinced herself otherwise to deal with it. Maybe it would be easier if the lie was the truth, then it wouldn’t hurt so much.

That had to make it real, right? How much it hurt?

Still, Rose and Pearl agreed that they had to do something with the shards. Though what, they had no idea. Eventually, Rose decided to wander, until they found a spot to keep her.

Pearl hadn’t come with her. She couldn’t bring herself to. Maybe she wasn’t ready. After all, isn’t this ‘acceptance’? Instead, she gave the bubble containing Pink’s shards to her. After that, Rose took her sword and headed out.

The first place she had thought of, was the strawberry field. It was where they had decided to start the rebellion, after all. But there were too many other memories. There had been quite a few battles here, and it felt tainted.

Even if she hadn’t had issues with remembering the battles, she didn’t trust this place. Gem shards left here seemed to disappear. Logically, she knew Homeworld had probably taken them, for whatever reason. Yet she couldn’t trust the place.

                She decided to go elsewhere, and ended up at a temple by a beach, one built into a cliff. It had been a large statue of Pink, at one point, but once the other Diamonds took over, they repurposed them into their own. This one had been taken by White Diamond, and had been in the process of being rebuilt to look like her. It was only half-done, as while it had White Diamond’s face and Gem, and a new hand holding a sword had been made, the body still resembled Pink’s and they had yet to destroy her arms that were still clasped together over the entrance.

                Glaring at the repurposed temple, she decided something. One day, she’d remake this temple. She didn’t know if she would make it Pink’s again, or if she’d do something new, but it would never belong to White Diamond ever again.

                In a fit of rage, she summoned her shield. Tossing it into the air, she leapt after it, climbing to the top of the statue. Her shield went through the arm of the statue, slicing of the hand and the sword that had caused so much pain.

                Catching the shield as it flew back, she used its momentum to smash into the statue’s ‘Gem’. It was oddly satisfying.

                As she looked out from the top of the cliff, she recognized the place. It was the place where they pretended to attack Pink, to get Homeworld to take them seriously. She remembered standing up here, Pearl beside her, Pink below her, and hope within her.

                Yet this was another place special to them, wasn’t it? Pink had stayed in this temple, waiting to greet Blue. And the night after, they had first formed Zoisite.

                Not yet giving up on the spot, she made her way inland a bit. There wasn’t much here, but she wanted to make sure the local flora or fauna wouldn’t disturb her. Unfortunately, something had other plans.

                She had no idea how one of the corrupted Gems could have made its way here, of all places. Yet there it was. If she had to guess, she would say it was Citrine, but it was difficult to tell, as she looked so much like some sort of monstrous bird.

                Running was difficult. Citrine seemed to know the place much more than she did, but still Rose decided to try. Eventually, she realized she’d been led in circles, and now there was just a dead end. Just rocks surrounding a shallow pool.

                Summoning her shield and pulling her sword out of its scabbard, she decided to face her. She hadn’t expected Citrine to be so strong, but corruption must have given her more power. In a second, she was pushed into the water.

                She bashed Citrine in the face with her shield, causing the monster to back up. Acting quickly, she swung her sword. There was resistance, followed by the sound of a Gem hitting the ground.

                She gave a sigh of relief for a moment, but began to panic when she realized Pink’s shards weren’t with her. Frantically looking, she saw a flash of color. The bubble had burst when she was pushed into the water.

                Tears welling up, she jumped in before anything more could happen. There were far too many pieces. Every time she thought there couldn’t be more, she saw another pile of shards. She was thankful for the stillness of the water, though her earlier thrashing had already stirred it up.

                Eventually, she was sure she’d gotten them all. She had to have, right? Maybe there were specks, pieces too small for her to see, but she couldn’t do much about that now. It shouldn’t matter too much. After all, there were probably fragments that Pearl hadn’t managed to get from the aftermath. Still, it hurt.

                Replacing the bubble, she moved onwards as it was the only thing she could do.

                She visited many more places, but found fault with all of them. Sometimes there were too many bad memories. Other times, she could see that the place was somewhere Humans would likely come to at some point. True, she didn’t have a Sapphire’s Future Vision, but they were places that had plenty of resources for the Humans.

                Even still, there were places no Gem had come back from, as the Strawberry battlefield had been. She had no clue what had happened to those who had been shattered. She was scared to find out. And she was even more scared to leave Pink there.

                Eventually, she made it to a desert. She remembered it as well. So long ago, Pink had met Blue here and received a blue Topaz as a gift. While they had fallen for one another before then, the Topaz was the spark that made Rose and Pink truly talk to one another about what they felt.

                In a way, wasn’t that the true start of the Rebellion? It was the moment they were more than Pink Diamond and her Rose Quartz soldier. They were Pink and Rose, and that’s who they had been since. Or at least, up until Pink was shattered.

                As she stared out into the distance, she felt something bump her side. Looking down, she saw one of the Earth’s creatures. A ‘lion’, some humans had called them. Specifically, it was a ‘male’ one. She knew about the lifeforms here to tell the difference.

                “Hello there,” Rose said, kneeling down to pet the creature’s mane. “You have almost as much hair as I do. Do you think I’m some strange lion?”

                The lion, of course, didn’t answer. Instead, he stepped away and stared at her intently.

                “What do you want?” she asked.

                The lion stepped back a little more, still staring.

                “Do you want me to follow you?” she asked.

                The lion seemed to say ‘yes’, as he walked off down the sand dunes. Rose followed close behind, and was soon led to a group of the creatures. This group had both ‘males’ and ‘females’

                “Are you okay out here?” she asked them.

                She didn’t expect an answer, and they didn’t give one. They seemed to like her though, and kept bumping her for attention. A few of the more impatient ones stood on their back legs to hug her.

                Eventually, she decided she had to go and headed back to the warp. She made it back and was debating on whether to fully leave the desert or not when she felt something bump into her again. The first lion had followed her.

                “You were supposed to stay with the group,” she smiled, petting his fur.

                Before she could do anything else, the lion turned away from her and roared. Looking up, she saw another Gem monster headed her way. This one was green, probably Jadeite, and just as beast-like as the last. She set Pink’s bubble down on the warp pad before drawing her sword and summoning her shield again.

                The creature was fast, but she could match it easily. Her shield blocked a swipe from its claws, letting out a clang as they hit. Her sword swung, but it didn’t manage to dissipate the creature. Another hit from the claws made her stumble. It felt like she was doing a lot of that lately.

                There was a sound behind her, the lion’s roar. Despite the risk, she stole a glance over her shoulder and felt herself freeze.

                She hadn’t noticed the tail. This creature had a tail that whipped around and attempted to take her. Yet the lion had leapt in the way, holding to the thing with his claws and trying to tear it to shreds with his teeth.

                Even as corrupted as it was, a Gem was still more than capable of handling organic lifeforms. With a flick of its tail, the lion went soaring off into distance, sand exploding upwards from where he had landed.

                Rose used the distraction well, rolling underneath the beast. As expected, it attempted to drop onto her, only to be met with a sword. Just like that, the beast dissipated, dropping its Gem.

                Looking at where the dust had settled, she searched for the lion. Yet there was nothing, No roars, no cries of pain, no shifting sand of something climbing up the dunes. Panic set in, and she raced across the way to where she thought the lion had been flung.

                The Humans she had spoken with once used an expression of ‘my heart caught it my throat’. While Rose was a Gem with a form made of Light and therefore had no physical ‘heart’, she understood the expression in this moment.

                The lion wasn’t moving. She couldn’t even see the shallow rise of its barrel that should accompany breathing. That was, what she could see of it. The lion had landed hard into the sand, getting buried by much of it.

                Hoping she wasn’t too late, she slid down the dune. She had no idea how her tears worked with organic life, much less ones so near death. Still, she let her tears fall onto his face.

                “Come on, it’ll be alright,” she whispered, more to herself than anything.

                After a moment, the lion’s fur began to glow. Rose shielded her eyes from the light, waiting it out. She didn’t dare to look until something licked her hand.

                “You’re okay!” Rose exclaimed.

                She had been about to throw her arms around the lion, but she stopped and tilted her head. The lion’s fur had changed, no longer being the dusty golden brown it was. Instead, he looked like he could be a Gem. He was pink.

                “It suits you, doesn’t it?” she smiled. “Thank you, for saving me.”

                She went to run her hand through the lion’s mane, only to find she couldn’t. Her hand seemed to go into his mane endlessly. Surely he wasn’t a ‘ghost’ humans had spoke of? No, she could still touch the rest of him. She stuck her hand into his mane again, pushing to see how far it went. She frowned when it reached her shoulder.

                Was that a breeze she felt? Hesitantly, she stuck her face into the mane, only to pop up in a field of pink grass. It was a strange place, feeling almost like the space inbetween warp pads. There was almost nothing, save for a hill and a pink tree.

                She had an idea. Summoning a shield, she tossed it onto the hill and ducked back out. Within only a few moments, she ducked back in to see the shield still there. She came back out, and looked at the lion’s face, almost laughing at how undisturbed he was by this.

                “Would you like to hold on to something, someone, important for me?” she asked.

* * *

                Most days, the three of them stayed together. They wandered where they pleased, interacting a little with the humans they came across. There were too many days where they had to fight a creature that was once an ally, but they couldn’t just leave the creatures to wreak havoc, could they?

                Still, sometimes they went off alone. Mostly Rose went off alone. Either she needed to think about things, or she needed to store something in the Lion’s mane. Sometimes both. She’d argued with herself over what to do with Bismuth. She wanted to give her another chance, but she knew what would happen. Even if Bismuth didn’t attack her on sight, she’d soon learn of everyone’s fate. She’d blame her for it, even though there was no way of knowing that this ‘corruption’ could exist.

                Rose had ended up walking through the Kindergarten. It held a sort of sad nostalgia for her. After all, this was where she was made, where all the Rose Quartzes were made. It was where most of Earth’s Gems had been made, though they were done in batches. One batch of Rose Quartzes, a batch of Rubies, a batch of Spinels, and so on.

                Still, she hadn’t been here since the beginning of the rebellion. They had ‘sabotaged’ the place, attacking it too often to let more Gems be made here. It was just so that Pink could use it as an excuse to test out the Beta Kindergarten.

                It was far too quiet in here. She was used to places without Humans, and knew this place would be no different. After all, Humans need land they could farm, and this place had the life sucked out of it. Still, she had expected animals of some sort. Yet there was nothing except the wind whistling through.

                And a clatter. She jumped as he heard a clatter of rocks. Without moving, she cast her eyes to where she had heard the sound. A few stones had tumbled off a bigger rock, but not from the wind. Something was there, but it was small enough to hide.

                If it was smart enough to hide, it was smart enough to trick. She purposely turned in the opposite direction, looking to one of the many holes in the wall.

                “Hello?” Rose called. “Is someone there?”

                As expected, whatever it was jumped out from behind the rock. However, she hadn’t expected it to run away. Spinning, she created a bubble around it.

                “Let me go!”

                Rose tilted her head, not expecting it to talk. No, not ‘it’, her. She was pounding against the wall of the bubble.

                “Hey there,” Rose said, slowly walking up to her. “Are you okay?”

                “Not until you let me out!” she shouted, backing to the far end of the bubble.

                “I’m sorry, I thought you might’ve been something else,” she said. “I’m going to let you out okay? Please don’t run off.”

                She seemed to settle a little, though she still looked tense. Thankfully, she didn’t run when the bubble popped. Though she did frown up at Rose, curling up with her knees at her chest.

                Now it was Rose’s turn to be confused. At first, she had thought the one in the bubble had been a runaway Human of some sort. One of their kids who didn’t understand why this place wasn’t a good place to live. But looking at her now, she knew Humans weren’t purple.

                She was obviously a Gem, and that worried her. An uncorrupted Gem could only have come from Homeworld, right? Then why wasn’t she attacking?

                Rose sat down with her, leaning in to get a better look. The Gem leaned back a bit, but didn’t run from her gaze. She hadn’t noticed the Gem before, the collar of her top hid part of it.

                “What’s your name?” Rose asked.

                “A-Amethyst, I think?” the Gem replied.

                That was strange. She did look like an Amethyst, purple with white hair in a ponytail, but she was far too small. Amethysts were Quartzes, like Rose. They should’ve been the same height, yet she was only half her size.

                “You think?” Rose questioned.

                “It sounds right?” Amethyst answered. “I-I don’t know. There are things I think I know, but also things I don’t know? Like, I can do this!”

                Amethyst’s Gem began to glow. Reaching her had to it, she pulled out a whip. That was quite surprising to Rose, as Quartzes with whips were very rare.

                It was then that she noticed something else. When Amethyst had moved out of her curled up position to reach her gem, she’d revealed more of her outfit. Rose felt happy, but also a little sad.

                “I have no idea what to do with it though,” Amethyst had went on. “I feel like I should be doing something, but I don’t know what. Does that make sense?”

                “A lot, actually,” Rose smiled. “So, where did you come from?”

                “Here,” she answered, gesturing with the whip. “There’s a hole down that way that’s me-sized. I just popped out of it.”

                “And you never left?” she wondered.

                “No,” she shook her head, spitting out hairs as her ponytail smacked her in the face. “I felt like I was supposed to wait for something, you know? Besides, I didn’t even know if there was anything out there. Is there?”

                “A lot,” she smiled. “Would you like to see it?”

                “How can I trust you?” she frowned.

                “Because I’m like you,” she answered.

                Rose pointed to her own Gem, and watched the wonder light up in Amethyst’s eyes. She came forward, inspecting the Gem closer. Hand reaching to her own Gem, she looked at Rose once more.

                “Who are you?” Amethyst asked.

                “My name is Rose,” she replied. “I can tell you everything, if you want me to. You can come with me.”

                “Are there more like us?” she asked.

                “A few,” she answered carefully. “But for now, it’s us, and my friends Pearl and Garnet. They’ll be confused when they meet you, but I promise once we talk they’ll like you.”

                “Are you sure?” she asked.

                “Absolutely,” she said, offering her hand. “Now, would you like to meet them?”

                Hesitantly, Amethyst took her hand. The duo walked down the Kindergarten, and Rose tried to ignore the emptiness. Thankfully, the warp pad was close.

                “I’ve seen this before,” Amethyst said, inspecting the warp pad closely. “I didn’t think it did anything.”

                “I can teach you to use it,” Rose said. “It’s called a warp pad. There are a lot of these all over the place. And you can use them to get to any other warp pad near instantly.”

                “So, how much else is out there?” she asked. “You said there were a lot of these things, right? So there’s a lot of places too.”

                “There are,” she nodded. “It’ll take quite a while to see them all. But I have a good idea for a first one, after we meet Pearl and Garnet.”

                “I can’t wait!” she said, bouncing with excitement.

                Once they had both stepped on, Rose activated the warp pad.  She gave a soft smile, hearing the gasp of wonder beside her. Thankfully, Amethyst was too in awe to try and reach her hand out of the tunnel of light. She would have to make sure to go over that rule later.

                The place they ended up was inside one of the various temples. Though it was just stone, Amethyst seemed amazed by the new sights.  She didn’t even notice Pearl and Garnet’s expressions, just that they were there.

                “Look what I found!” Rose announced, kneeling down and putting her hands on Amethyst’s shoulders.

                “Rose! What? How did-?” Pearl stammered. “I thought Homeworld couldn’t come back!”

                “She’s not from Homeworld,” Rose said. “Look at her outfit!”

                Pearl, and Garnet for that matter, took in Amethysts outfit while the Gem in question stared down at it, wondering what was wrong. She was wearing a white tunic, with gray pants and black boots. The only thing out of place was the pink diamond shape on the front of her tunic.

                “That doesn’t make sense,” Garnet stated.

                “None at all!” Pearl agreed. “All of the Gems loyal to Homeworld changed insignias when they were reassigned! How-”

                “I-I’m sorry?” Amethyst interrupted. “I’m not sure what I did wrong? But can you be a bit more patient here? I don’t really know anything, and this is, like, the first time I’m seeing something that’s not that place with the holes. I’ll fix whatever I did.”

                “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Rose said, turning her around. “They’re just a little confused. But it’s not your fault. You’re perfect the way you are.”

                “Thanks, Rose!” she said, her smile growing wide.

                “And to help explain,” she looked up to her companions, “I went to the Kindergarten. Pearl, do you remember what you told me about the Amethysts?”

                “One never popped out!” Pearl recalled. “So she’s-“

                “Yep,” she replied.

                “There are more ‘Amethysts’?” Amethyst asked.

                “It’s a long story,” Garnet answered.

                “It can wait a little longer,” Rose said. “I want to show Amethyst a few places first. After all, she’s never left the Kindergarten before.”

                “Well, we’ll be glad to come with you!” Pearl said.

                “Where are we going?” Amethyst asked.

                “Somewhere nice,” Rose said. “Do you feel up to going on the warp pad again?”

                “Totally!” she exclaimed.

                “Alright then,” she said. “Just remember, stay in the tunnel, okay?”

                Amethyst nodded as Pearl and Garnet stepped on the warp pad. As Rose sent them on their way, she decided she’d try and teach Amethyst to use it on the way back. She wondered how long it would take her to get it.

                The moment the light faded, Amethyst was gone from her side. They had come to a forest, and she was already looking at the trees and the grass and the animals everywhere. Rose laughed a little when she got frustrated that the animals didn’t like to be approached, but thankfully she didn’t try to capture them with her whip.

                It made her smile to see Amethyst so excited. Yet she also felt a sad nostalgia creep in. She remembered another Gem who was so fascinated by the Earth, though it was for a different reason. Shaking off the feeling, she decided to lead Amethyst somewhere else.

                It was a little difficult to get her to stop looking long enough to walk. Really, she didn’t want to tell her to stop. She just hoped they wouldn’t miss the time. It was quite the walk, after all. Sure, she could’ve used the warp pad to get closer, but she didn’t want to ruin the view.

                They made their way to the top of a hill, and she heard Amethyst stop everything at the view. There was a valley below them, large and open and beautiful. Across the way, an ocean spread out into the distance, though none of them could see how far it went. Rose was glad her timing was right. Sunset, with the sky lit up in pinks and oranges and a few purples thrown in, casting their light across everything.

                Rose was almost sure Amethyst could’ve stayed there staring forever.

* * *

                They came to the conclusion that they needed a base. Of the many reasons, one was the fact that they had to do something about the corrupted Gems. As much as they didn’t want to fight or imprison their friends, they were too far gone and dangerous to not only them, but the Humans that lived here. A base would give them a place to store them.

                And, of course, it was a bit more convenient to have one place to return to instead of thinking of a meeting spot every time they split up. Another choice was for Amethyst, as they felt she should be in a more ‘stable’ place. It almost sounded like how the Humans settled into a house and had a family. though they weren’t exactly ‘raising’ Amethyst like Humans would, they still had a lot to teach her.

                There had been a few options, but Rose remembered the temple on the beach. She promised herself that she’d do something different with it, and she was determined to keep that promise. Scouting out the area, she only solidified the choice.

                She found the pool again, the one she had fallen into while escaping Citrine. The one where she dropped Pink’s shards. She hadn’t managed to get all of them, but it didn’t matter anymore. Some combination of the shards and the natural flora and probably the tears she had cried looking for them resulted in a type of moss.

It was… alive, in a way. She took care of it, and led it to the top of a nearby hill. When the moss bloomed into flowers, she cried more. They were just like the one she had given Pink, the ones Pink had loved so much. Prink probably would’ve been happy about that, in a way. Being a part of the planet she loved, remade into a symbol she shared with Rose. She couldn’t just leave it alone, could she?

* * *

               “What happened to it?” Pearl asked.

                “I might’ve cut its hand off?” Rose answered.

                “And shattered the Gem?” Garnet frowned.

                “Harsh,” Amethyst laughed.

                “Hey, it’s only a statue of her!” Rose defended. “It’s not my fault White Diamond decided she wanted Pink’s temple.”

                “I suppose,” Pearl said, her posture dropping slightly. “But the question is, what do we do with it? I don’t really want to live in a statue of White Diamond, of all Gems.”

                “Why’s White Diamond the worst?” Amethyst asked.

                Rose and Pearl froze. They had never told Garnet about Pink, and therefore had never told Amethyst either. They’d decided to stick to the lie, at first because they couldn’t bring themselves to say it, but after a while it was because when a lie lasts long enough it becomes the truth. They dodged the question when it came up, or gave half-truths. It was easier than explaining.

                “White Diamond…. Had very high standards,” Rose said carefully. “If a Gem went against what she wanted, well, it wouldn’t end well.”

                “Okay, yeah, busting the statue’s ‘Gem’ is less harsh,” Amethyst agreed. “So, do you think we can redecorate it?”

                “That’s the plan,” Garnet said.

                “But I meant ‘can’ as in are we able to?” she said.

                “We all have various abilities,” Rose said. “I’m sure that we could do it if we work together. And Spinel taught us how to reprogram the Gate on the inside, so that’s just a question of giving everyone their own space.”

                “But what do we want to do with the outside?” Pearl wondered. “We can’t leave it as White Diamond, and I don’t think restoring it to… to Pink… is a good idea.”

                Rose silently agreed. As much as she missed Pink, she wouldn’t want to see her face every time she was outside. Well, maybe a smaller statue or picture would be fine, but not living in a larger-than-life statue.

                “You know,” Garnet began. “I believe the five of us could be that tall.”

                “Uh, G-Squad, I don’t think we’re that tall,” Amethyst smirked. “Even if we stacked on each other’s heads.”

                “Now, who said anything about stacking,” she replied.

                “Then how-“ Pearl began, before gasping in surprise. “You’re thinking of a Fusion!”

                “That might be tall enough,” Rose said when Garnet nodded.

                “Are you finally going to teach me how to do that!” Amethyst exclaimed. “Come on! You’ve been talking about it for forever!”

                “That’s an idea,” Pearl mused. “But you shouldn’t jump right into it.”

                “Heck yeah I should!” she replied.

                “It is a good opportunity,” Rose said. “How about we start her on smaller Fusions before going for the big one?”

                “Come on! I can get it!” she insisted.

                “I know you can,” she replied, ruffling her hair. “But you’ll get it a lot easier if you start smaller, okay?”

                “I guess,” she sighed.

                “How about a demonstration to get us started?” Pearl suggested. “Garnet, since Fusion is your thing, do you think Ruby and Sapphire could come out to demonstrate?”

                “I think it would be easier for you and Rose to do so,” Garnet said.

                “Well, I-“ she began.

                “She’s got a point, P,” Amethyst said. “She’d have to unfuse to fuse. Besides! As much as I want to see Ruby and Sapphire again, I want to know what you two make!”

                “I-I think we can handle that,” Rose said. “We just haven’t fused in a while. It might take us a minute to remember the steps.”

                Okay, well, we’ll sit and watch!” she said.

                Amethyst took Garnet’s hand, leading her up the path that led to the temple’s entrance. The remaining duo stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do.

                “We should try, right?” Rose asked.

                “Y-yes,” Pearl replied. “I’m sure we’re just a little out of practice.”

                Stepping back to start, the two twirled to one another. Rose spun Pearl, then brought her into a dip. Ad they came back up, they could feel themselves melding together.

                Then, they stopped. Both Gems dropped to the ground.

                “You can do it!” Amethyst cheered.

                “Remember,” Garnet called to them. “You need to be in harmony.”

                They tried again, dancing for longer this time. Rose opened her eyes and glanced up to their audience, but in doing so, she saw the temple behind them. There was a soft thud and a vocal disapproval as Pearl spun past her and fell into the sand.

                “Come on!” Amethyst heckled.                

                “It’s harder than you think!” Pearl retorted.

                “Just…just give us a minute,” Rose said.

                Begrudgingly, Amethyst settled down. Garnet whispered something to her that seemed to help her relax, probably assurance from her Future Vision. With a sigh, Rose sat down facing Pearl.

                “I’m sorry,” Pearl said quietly. “I don’t think we can…. It’s just-“

                “Zoisite,” Rose finished. “We haven’t fused since the last time we were Zoisite. With Pink.”

                “And it was here the first time, wasn’t it,” she said more than asked.

                “Yes,” she replied, though she knew she didn’t need to.  “It’s… hard to move on.”

                “I know,” she sighed, curling up in the sand. “But we have to, don’t we?”

                “We will,” she agreed. “I still love you, you know?”

                “I love you too,” she smiled.

                “We’re still here,” she said, taking her hand. “And we’re still together, so we’ll be okay. I can’t promise I’ll be here forever, because things can happen, but as long as I’m here, I’ll be here for you. And we’ll be okay.”

                “I know you will,” she said. “Do-do you remember that song? Pink had heard Topaz and Spinel sing it, and then when we were Zoisite…”

                “Of course I remember,” she laughed, helping her up. “ _As I sing…”_

“ _This melody_ ,” she answered, stepping into place.

                “ _I remember our…_ ” she pulled her close, starting their dance.

                “ _Precious memories_ ,” She twirled, and dipped.

                “ _I will change your despair to a smile_ ,” they sang together, their Gems glowing.

                “ _As long as I can be with you and sing_ ,” Rose sang.

                “ _As long as I can be with you and sing_ ,” Pearl echoed.

                They melted together, becoming less yet more. She still danced.

                “ _As long as I can be with you…_ ” Rainbow Quartz finished.

                There was applause from behind her, cheers from her audience. Amethyst ran to her, attempting to tackle her, but only hitting her leg.

                “Wow you’re tall!” Amethyst laughed. “I think Garnet’s right about all of us being statue size!”

                “Well, we can try it out eventually,” Rainbow replied, ducking down to ruffle her hair.

                As the day, and night, went on, they spent the time teaching Amethyst to fuse. Some were harder than others. Smoky Quartz was near-immediate, yet Opal took half the night in itself. Partly because Rose would distract them by saying Pearl was cute when she pouted, causing a few minutes of stammering and blushing.

                Eventually, they decided to try for all of them at once. She somehow felt more stable, but less stable. There were five Gems, each contradicting one another, yet they balanced one another out.

                Obsidian stood on the beach, as tall as her components expected. She had four sets of arms, but she was more surprised by the fact that she had two faces. That was strange, wasn’t it? To be able to open two mouths. Both mouths seemed to have the same voice, though it was difficult to talk with both at once.

                She set her sights on the temple itself All of her components had various powers; pyrokinesis, cryokinesis, phytokinesis, even some terrakinesis. She could use her powers to reshape the rocks, remake the temple.

                And so she did. Rocks moved, became structures and fine details. She remade the face, giving it her own two, and added extra arms. She didn’t completely understand why, but she refused to fix the hand that had held a sword. It felt right, for some reason.

                After a while, once it was perfect, she felt tired enough that de-fusion was easy. Obsidian’s components dropped to the ground, some more gracefully than others, and looked on in awe at what they had created.

* * *

                As time went on, things got easier. While they were still sad, still mourned what had happened to the rest of the Rebellion, they moved on. Rose and Pearl still mourned Pink. They knew that they would never ‘truly’ be over it. It would always hurt, but it wasn’t constant. As centuries passed into millennia, the times it came up were fewer and fewer, and when it happened it wouldn’t hit as hard.

                Humans helped. Watching them do their thing, choosing their destiny. It was interesting to see, and so unlike Homeworld and its rules. Protecting them was their choice, but it gave them a purpose of sorts. Still, some Humans were a bit more stubborn than others.

                 The corrupted Gems seemed to seek them out for some reason, so they warned the Humans to stay away from the temple. Eventually, a group decided that it wasn’t too much of a risk and decided to stay. The best they could do was build a fence around the temple, to keep them from the more dangerous areas.

                Most days, it worked. The Crystal Gems would protect the Earth, bubble corrupted Gems, and then occasionally interact with the local Humans. Usually, they wouldn’t even think too hard about their past.

                Yet sometimes, Rose would come across something that would remind her of it so much.

                Songs, in particular, would take her back. Even with the way Human music had evolved over time, there were always some similarities. It could remind her of things long gone.

                “ _At the moment that I hit the stage, I hear the Universe calling my name, and I know deep down in my heart I have nothing to fear!_ ”

                For a second, she was back at the beginning of the Rebellion. Back when it was almost a show, not a war. They were just three Gems thinking they could change their world, not knowing what would one day happen.

                The song’s end snapped her out of it, and she smiled and clapped for the performance.

* * *

                “I can sing!” Pearl almost pouted.

                Rose smiled at the expression she made, breaking once Garnet and Amethyst began to laugh.

                “What?” Pearl demanded, actually pouting now.

                She knew Pearl was a little jealous sometimes, when Rose had found a Human she liked. Still, it wasn’t too much of a problem. Rose trusted her, loved her, and any Human couldn’t change that. Pearl knew that too, as passive aggressive as she could get. Still, Rose did know when to listen, and as soon as they were alone, she would calm her fears, remind her how much she cares.

* * *

                “ _Do you believe in Destiny? Close your eyes and leave the rest to me._ ”

                She could hear his voice from outside her room. Of course, she was the one who made sure she could hear through the Gate, but that was strange. Wasn’t he supposed to leave? He had to leave, didn’t he? He should want to follow the things he wanted, not chase after her.

                Knowing he wouldn’t go away if she ignored him, she opened the door and stepped out. Better to tell him straight. The grin on his face said everything.

                “You’re wearing the… shirt,” his face dropped when he saw her expression.

                “Please go away,” Rose asked.

                “I’m sorry?” he said. “Did I-“

                “You’re awfully cute,” she sighed. “And I really want to play with you, but your life is short and you have dreams. I won’t let you give up on everything you want.”

                “That’s going to be a problem,” he said.

                “Huh?” that hadn’t been the response she’d expected.

                “You’re everything I want!” He declared, grin back on his face.

                Rose was shocked for a moment. Slowly, she broke into a smile of her own, and then a laugh. He reminded her of herself, of Pearl. Pink had told them they didn’t have to give up their lives and risk anything, but they had wanted it with all their heart. Once the Rebellion became a war, she told Pearl she didn’t have to put herself in danger, yet she had chosen to anyway. There was no stopping him, was there?

                This Human just got a lot more interesting.

* * *

                “ _Human man, you are so much fun. I hadn’t planned, on finding you quite this entertaining._ ”

                That had been too true. The more time Rose spent with Greg, the more he surprised her. She had known plenty about Humans, but this one felt different to her. She couldn’t quite place why, but she found it fascinating.

                Of course, some things were less surprising. When Pearl suggested that Rainbow Quartz could add something extra to the video, Rose knew exactly what was going on in her head. So Rose played along.

Rainbow Quartz knew what Rose was feeling, and what Pearl was feeling. They talked while they danced, a silent conversation through her own emotions. By the time they unfused, Rose was sure that Pearl’s fears were calmed.

* * *

                “Can you just talk to me for one second, like a real person?”

                “I’m…not a real person?”

                That’s when it hit her. He was interesting, fascinating, just like she had been to Pink. She’d been thinking of Humans like how Gems once thought of one another. As if they weren’t individuals, just ‘Humans’. That’s why Greg was interesting, wasn’t he? Because he was the first Human she’d really talked to long enough to know.

                Stars, how the tables turned. If felt like forever ago when Rose had gotten frustrated with Pink for only thinking of her as an interesting Rose Quartz. Now, she wondered if it was the same. Did she just find him to be an interesting Human, or had she fallen for Greg the same way Pink had once fallen for her?

                The answer came far too easily as they began to talk. She wanted to fix this; she wanted to talk for real, like a ‘real person’, though she was far from normal. She loved him, for more than just an ‘interesting Human’, and that was okay.

* * *

                “You said you’ve been in love before?” Rose asked.

                “Are you okay with that?” Greg asked in response.

                “It would be a little hypocritical if I wasn’t,” she laughed. “But what was it like? What were they like?”

                “You sure you want to hear about that?” he asked.

                “I’m not going to get jealous, you know,” she smiled. “I want to know more about your experiences, and this is some of them.”

                “If you’re sure,” he said. “There were only really two.”

                “Only two,” she said, slightly amused.

                “Well, there were smaller things here and there,” he said. “People I might’ve loved if we had given it a chance. But there were only two that I was really, well, in love with. The first was Fey. She was cute and sweet, but definitely the serious one.”

                “So why didn’t it work?” she asked.

                “Well, you know how-“ he paused, rubbing the back of his neck. “Right, alien. You don’t exactly get how Humans work as kids because you were never a kid.”

                “No, but I want to learn,” she said.

                Greg smiled at her, glad she wanted to hear him out. She had heard of how Humans worked, but she wanted to hear his version. This was about him, not ‘Humans’.

                “Well, we were only fourteen at the time,” Greg said. “When you’re fourteen, you’re still trying to figure out who you are. I figured out I wanted to go into music, become a star and perform for crowds all over the world. Fey wanted to be a detective. We tried to make it work, but we grew apart. At some point, we both agreed that we wanted our dreams, and it was better to end the relationship before it became a problem. We still talk, but we’ve moved on. She actually sent me an invitation to her wedding.”

                “I’m glad to hear it ended nicely, even if it had to end,” Rose said. “So who was the second?”

                “A while after Fey, I met Reid,” he said. “He was the weird one, but in a good way. I guess we got along because we were both performers, though he was an actor instead of a singer. Not that he couldn’t sing, he had a great voice, but he loved the stage and playing the part. We ended it for the same reason I ended it with Fey. My music career was taking off, and Reid ended up moving to Kansas and living his dream. I’ve seen his show a few times, and he’s been doing good.”

                “You ended it both times because of your dream,” she mused. “So why’d you give up your dream when you met me?”

                “Fey and Reid had their own dreams, and I had mine,” he said. “I was so in love with them, but we wanted our dreams more than we wanted to stay with each other. But when I met you, I wanted to stay with you more than I wanted to be a star.”

                “You barely knew me,” she said.

                “True,” he agreed. “But I know you better now, and I don’t regret the decision.”

                Rose laughed at that, but not because it was silly. She laughed because it made her happy. A part of her still thought he was making a mistake, being with her instead of his dream, but it made her happy all the same.

                “So what about you?” Greg asked. “You’ve loved others before, right?”

                “Humans, no,” Rose said. “There have been Humans I liked, but you’re the first Human I’ve been in love with like this.”

                “But you’ve loved other Gems,” he guessed.

                “Pearl and I aren’t exactly subtle,” she laughed.

                “Even if you were, Pearl’s made it very clear that you two have a thing,” he said.

                “She’s said something, hasn’t she?” she sighed.

                “A bit,” he admitted. “But it’s fine. I know you can love both of us, and if she does say something that makes me feel… like not enough, I can talk to you about it.”

                “I should talk with her about it more,” she said. “She’s stubborn sometimes. But I’m sure if she gave you a chance, you two would get along well.”

                “It’s fine,” he said. “I get it, in a way. But was there anyone else?”

                Rose went quiet for a moment. She wondered what to say, how to even begin to explain, or even if she should explain it all.

                “That was the wrong question, wasn’t it,” Greg asked. “Right. You told me about your Rebellion. If it wasn’t Garnet or Amethyst, it had to be someone from back then.”

                “Yes,” Rose answered. “There was another Gem I loved. She was… she was wonderful. She always wanted the best for everyone. She tried to help all of us, but she… she was shattered during the Rebellion.”

                “I’m sorry,” he said. “I can’t even imagine what that’s like.”

                “It’s quite alright,” she smiled sadly. “I’ve had time to come to terms with it. I still feel sad, thinking about her, but I’m not going to break down every time I do.”

                “That’s… good, I guess,” he said. “So, was Pearl jealous of her too, or is it just a thing against me?”

                “Well, that situation was different in many ways,” she laughed. “But mostly, she had loved Pearl too. It was the three of us together.”

                “Oh,” he said. “Huh. Not what I expected, but I’m glad you three were happy, back then.”

                “We were,” she said. “As you said, ‘I don’t regret the decision’. Not a bit.”

* * *

                “Hey, buddy,” Rose said. “How are you doing?”

                The pink lion only yawned. She took that as a good sign, and climbed into his mane. She smiled at the sight of the pink tree and the objects she kept here. There was more than one storage place, another was just a place in the desert itself, but this was were she kept the things that meant so much to her.

                She ran her hand over the old flag, made back when she had truly become the symbol of the Rebellion.  She’d put her sword in here as well, when its scabbard had gotten lost. More recent additions included the shirt Greg had given her when they met, and a picture of the two of them together.

                Bismuth, still in her bubble, had been put here as well, as it was safer than keeping her anywhere else. Rose wanted so much to let her out, to tell her why she had done what she’d done, but she knew Bismuth wouldn’t listen to her. She’d tried to talk to her and explain before, but she nearly lost everything.  Bismuth would only see that part, that Rose’s way had lost everything anyway, despite the fact that her own way would have as well.

                Tearing her gaze away from the Gem, she looked to the locked chest. They had found it in one of the many temples, locked by a Beryl. But like the temple Gate, Rose had learned to reprogram its locks. Now, it would only work for a Rose Quartz.

                Opening the chest, she gently picked up its contents. A bubble full of shards. Pink’s shards. She held it close, careful not to pop the bubble.

                “I’m sorry, Pink,” Rose said, tears falling. “I-I’m stuck. There’s something I want to do. Something I want to create, but if I do it, I won’t exist anymore. I remember how much it hurt, losing you. I think of it every time I remember that Greg is still a Human, every time I see him looking a little older. I don’t want to do that to him, or to Pearl.

                “But this is…” she sighed. “I don’t know how to describe it. Extraordinary, is a good word. It’s something entirely new, something that could change everything, something more than a Gem and more than a Human. Something that I’ll never get to meet. Because I’ll be a part of… of him or her, of them. But how can I do that, willingly leave those I love, to create them?

                “I guess it’s like what Greg said. He wanted something so much, he gave up being with those he loved. We all did that, didn’t we? We wanted to change our world, that we risked everything to do it. We knew we’d be shattered if we were found, and we did it anyway. But we lost you, we lost nearly all of our friends. But how can I want something that will cause them pain?

                “I don’t want to leave my problems behind either. They will have to deal with the corrupted Gems. They’ll have to deal with Bismuth too, eventually. Who knows, maybe they’ll be better than I am. Maybe they can get through to her. Maybe they could fix everything I messed up. Wishful thinking, isn’t it? It sounds like something you would believe in, Pink.”

                She hugged the bubble closer to her, tears turning more to sobs.

                “Why?” she asked. “I know it will hurt everyone if I leave. I know they’ll have to deal with everything I’ve left behind. I know this should be a bad thing to do. So why do I want to do it anyway? Why am I even debating this with myself?

                “That’s the answer, isn’t it? I want to do it, to create them. Because I want to change things, and because I know that they’ll be okay, eventually. Because I love them, so very much.

* * *

                How do you tell those you love that you want to do something that would, essentially, kill you? Painfully.

                They tried to talk her out of it, but she had made up her mind. It felt like the right thing to do, despite how much she hated to do it. They didn’t completely understand, but they understood enough that they agreed to accept her decision. To help her go through with it, and to take care of the child that would come to be.

                Still, some took it harder than others.

                “Why?” Pearl asked when they were alone. “You know how much this hurts, how much it hurt when Pink…”

                “I know,” Rose said. “But I also know that you’ll be okay, in time.”

                “But why put us through that?” she asked, tears pooling in her eyes. “Don’t you care that it’ll hurt before we’ll be okay?”

                “Of course I do,” she answered. “I’m doing this for the same reasons we started the rebellion in the first place. Because I love you all so much, that I want to help create something new. Even if it means I won’t make it to be a part of it.”

                “But I just don’t-“ she began.

                “Pearl, fuse with me,” she asked.

                “What?” she stared at her, stepping back a little.

                “Please,” she sighed. “I can’t exactly explain this to you. But Rainbow Quartz can.”

                Rose held out her hand, relaxing when Pearl accepted. They danced the steps, though it was far slower than their usual dance. At the end, Rose pulled her into a kiss, and they melted together.

                Rainbow Quartz could feel the love between her components, but also both their sorrow. She could see the decision, mapped out from how Rose felt, but she could also see that neither were fully happy about it. She wondered why she would do it, if she weren’t happy, but the answer came just as easily. Because she wanted it, because she loved them.

                By the time they were two again, Pearl understood, even if she didn’t agree.

* * *

                “There’s too many things to say,” Rose sighed. “How am I supposed to tell them everything in such a short time?”

                “You’ll think of something,” Greg assured her. “Remember, we’re going to still be here too. You don’t have to tell them everything, because the rest of us can fill in the gaps.”

                “I hope so,” she said.

                He gave her a kiss before leaving her with the camera. For a while, she watched him on the beach, playing guitar with only seagulls for an audience.

                Eventually, she held up the camera and began to just talk. She could re-record it, if she needed. But maybe talking could help.

                “Isn’t it remarkable, Steven?” she asked. “This world is full of so many possibilities. Each living thing has an entirely unique experience. The sights they see, the sounds they hear. The lives they live are so complicated…. A- and so simple! I can’t wait for you to join them.”

                She took a breath, thinking of what to say next. As she turned the camera, she felt it. Somehow, she knew what to say. Because despite never meeting her child, not even knowing if the child would be ‘Steven’ or ‘Nora’, she loved them.

                “Steven, we can’t both exist,” she said, a sad smile on her face. “I’m going to become half of you. And I need you to know that every moment you love being yourself, that’s me, loving you and loving being you. Because you’re going to be something extraordinary. You’re going to be a Human Being.”

                She looked up when Greg called her name, and decided to finish with only one more line.

                “Take care of them, Steven,” she asked.

                She set the camera down, walking to where Greg was standing.

                “Are you okay?” Greg asked. “You looked about to cry.”

                “I’m fine,” Rose said. “I know you’re worried. And yes, it’s sad. But I’m happy all the same. Does that make sense?”

                “Only because it’s you,” he said, reaching up to kiss her.

* * *

               Rose knew that there were still going to be problems, when she left. But she trusted them. The four of them would take care of one another, and Steven. Together, they could do anything.

* * *

                Pearl was alone. She understood, but she didn’t understand. Rose and Pink had wanted to change things. She had too. But she’d lost everything in the process. She lost Pink, she lost all of her friends, and now she’s lost Rose as well.

                Even if there was a way for Rose to come back, she wouldn’t want to. Pearl couldn’t bring herself to do anything that she thought would bring her back. And there wasn’t a way to bring anyone else back. Rose had tried to heal the corruption, but in five thousand years it had never worked. And her tears never worked on Gems that had been shattered, only cracked.

                She hated how it hurt. She hated that she wanted everything to go back to how it was, how a part of her thought ‘I might’ve been part of Homeworld, but at least I had them’. She hated how she hated what Rose had done, leaving her alone, leaving them alone.

                “ _I will change your despair to a smile, as long as I can be with you…_ ”

* * *

                The part Pearl hated most, was interacting with Steven. She didn’t hate him. Quite the opposite, actually.  She loved him. It was much different than what she felt for Rose or Pink. It was more like her love for Amethyst, something Greg had told her was ‘familial love’.

                But she hated it all the same. Because every time she talked with Steven, every time he laughed or sang or did one of those silly things Human children do, she loved him more. Even just that grin made her melt and smile back.

                She hated it because it became harder and harder for her to say she wanted Rose back. She wished she could have both, but she can’t. So if she had to chose one, she’d respect what Rose wanted.

* * *

                Sometimes, the unexpected happened. Other times, it was a different kind of expected. Rose had said Steven would be extraordinary, though Pearl doubted she had expected this.

                Homeworld’s return, fusion experiments, all sorts of dangers that Rose should have been there for, that Rose should have handled. Yet they were able to do it.

                In a way, they were building up the Rebellion again. She and Garnet were still there, and Steven had taken Rose’s place. Yet they had quite the additions. Gems, old and new, along with Humans, and even some sort of magical lion. Maybe more. Steven had gotten closer to healing the corruption than Rose ever could have, even if he hadn’t been able to complete it yet. If he could, they’d have everyone back.

                 But there was also something about how Steven did things, how he helped them, that made her wonder. He tried to talk to others, he believed in them. She wondered, if given enough time, could he do what Rose and Pink hadn’t been able to?

                She understood now. Rose and Pink were still here, in a way, but so was everyone else. She wasn’t alone, she’d never truly been alone. She had this ‘family’, as strange as it was, and she loved them in so many different ways.

                She loved them, and she believed in them, and they did the same for her. Despite the part of her still stuck and looking for purpose, still wanting to keep things the same, she felt like she had at the beginning of the Rebellion. She knew in her heart that things could change, and that they’d be able to do it.

                Because together, they could do anything.


End file.
